St Clare Hospice is launching a series of events that are open to the whole community. Monthly lifestyle and wellbeing workshops, and a weekly coffee shop, will be open for all local people in West Essex and East Hertfordshire to attend.
‘Last Thursday Sessions’ named after the projects’ format of recurring events, will addressing a variety of topics relating to lifestyle and wellbeing. The sessions will also give people the chance to meet others in a communal, learning environment.
“Last Thursday Sessions is an events series that connects local people with similar interests,” explains Sally Muylders, Community Engagement Manager at St Clare Hospice. “The workshops include a presentation from a local speaker around topical issues relating to wellbeing, followed by an informal, facilitated discussion amongst the group. And anyone is welcome to come along!”
St Clare’s first Last Thursday Sessions event was entitled ‘Loneliness Awareness’ and was delivered by Patrick Arnold from Epping Forest District Council. The session aimed to raise awareness of how to spot if someone you know is lonely, and what you can do to offer support.
“We’re hoping to inspire and educate people around a range of topics,” says Sally. “Our first workshop around loneliness addressed a growing issue in the UK – but explored what we, as local people, can do to tackle this in the local community.
Reflecting on the first event, Sally added, “It was great to see local people coming together to chat about their experiences and what they have found to be useful in addressing loneliness. It’s exactly these conversations that we are trying to facilitate – where locals can pool resources and find useful ways of either helping themselves, or others. Everyone is welcome to come along to a Last Thursday Sessions event – no matter from which perspective you are attending.”
Future events will cover topics including mindfulness and relaxation, and smart devices.
“We are planning a series of 12 events throughout 2020 – one on every ‘last Thursday’ of the month,” adds Sally. “They could be focused around anything relating to lifestyle and wellbeing – hobbies; health; technology; spirituality; money; family; home and gardening; self-help. So be sure to keep in touch and stay updated on what we’re offering each month! We’d love to see you at a session.”
In addition the hospice is running a weekly coffee shop open to the public to visit for tea, coffee and breakfast.
“Just like a regular high-street coffee shop, Café Clare offers a place to meet and connect with other local people in the beautiful setting of your local hospice,” explains Jane Iskander, Day Therapy Manager.
“You may have heard of Café Clare before through our Day Therapy programme,” Jane continues. “The Café has been running for around two years now, first launched as a follow-on group for local people who had attended our Day Therapy groups. However, now, we are excited to open this service up to anyone in the community who would like to visit St Clare for a ‘cuppa’ and a croissant!
“Café Clare is a great place to meet up with friends, or to meet new people who are local in the area,” continues Jane. “We really want this space to become a communal environment where people can come to socialise over a bite to eat.”
For more information visit St Clare Hospice
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